Can I eat Jackfruit during pregnancy?

When you are pregnant, it is taken for granted that you will be craving a bunch of good food. You will probably be feeling constantly hungry, and the best way to counter that is probably to fill up on fruits. Mot gynecologists will agree that most of the fruits available are usually good for pregnant women, and the only concern is restricting oneself from overeating and watching for allergies. The same goes for jackfruit. Now, this is one of those fruits the world has a love hat relationship with. For some people, summer becomes especially wonderful with the arrival of this tropical fruit; for others, it is a weird smelling, strange looking fruit that they would not touch with a ten foot barge pole. If you belong to the former category, you are probably craving jackfruits during your pregnancy, but thanks to the many common concerns surrounding the fruit, you are not sure whether indulging in them will be a good idea.

In this article, let us try to bust the myths and keep the facts.

Eat small quantities

The biggest concern about jackfruits is that it is known as a heat producing fruit. Anything that produces heat is viewed warily by pregnant women, mainly because excess heat is believed to end in miscarriages. However, there is really no conclusive proof of this linkage between heat and miscarriages, and there is really no chance that a single bulb or two would raise your internal body heat to dangerous proportions. So, the bottom-line is, yes, you can certainly eat a bit of jackfruit during your pregnancy if you really want to. But the trick is, like everything else, to exercise moderation. Taste it, don’t go to town on it.

Digestive issues

One reason to worry about while eating jackfruits during pregnancy is that it is a very fibrous fruit, and not everyone will be able to digest it properly. It might be tough on the stomach at times even for perfectly healthy people, and there is a pretty big chance that the pregnant woman will suffer from a bout of stomach upset and diarrhea after eating this fruit. There are two reasons for this: first, pregnancy is always accompanied with issues of constipation and diarrhea, thanks to the digestive disorders that come hand in hand with bearing a child, and secondly, a pregnant woman’s immunity is weakened, which means she would be more susceptible to food-related disorders. To avoid this, eat as little as you can.

Gestational diabetes

Jackfruits have a very high sugar content, so make sure that you are not overeating them. In fact, the best idea would be to consult your doctor first and get a blood sugar check up. You might be suffering from gestational diabetes, which affects women only during the pregnancy, and disappears once the baby is delivered. The symptoms are similar to diabetes, and can lead to preterm births, miscarriages, developmental disorders in the baby, and even death in worst cases. If you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, stay away from jackfruits at all costs.

Better immunity

All is not lost, however. Jackfruits do offer a host of health benefits that make them a very important fruit to be added to your pregnancy diet. To begin with, jackfruits have a very high Vitamin C content, which boosts immunity. Since your immunity is compromised by the pregnancy, eating a couple of bulbs of jackfruit every other day will help in restoring some balance; besides, it will also help in developing a healthy immune system in the baby.

Good health

It is not only the immune system that the jackfruit develops. It is rich in a variety of other essential nutrients, such as Vitamin A, which will help in keeping the expecting other healthy and also aid in healthy fetal development. Besides, jackfruits are also linked to the regulation of hormones in the body. Your hormones will be going all haywire during your pregnancy, and eating jackfruits will keep them considerably under control. That means that your mood swings will not be that drastic, even though they will not disappear completely.

High energy

Jackfruits are pretty high in sugar content and calories, which makes them the ultimate food to keep you satiated and energetic during your pregnancy. Every pregnant woman will associate the nine months with the feelings of hunger and lethargy, and a few pieces of jackfruit are the best antidotes for these issues.

Jackfruits, if you have the taste for them, are irresistible in summer. But things change during pregnancy, and if you find yourself feeling nauseated at the sight and smell, opt out. It is important to remember that every pregnancy is different, so it is best to first discuss the diet with your doctor.